Consulting the public in policy making is a statutory obligation for Scottish local authorities but ‘traditional’ forms of public participation such as public meetings are not considered to be effective for engaging a representative range of citizens. Developments in ICT have led to speculation about the impact of technology on citizen involvement in political participation with some arguing that eParticipation could attract a wider range of participants than ‘offline’ mechanisms. This thesis presents the findings of an exploratory study examining eParticipation initiatives in Scottish Local Authorities. The focus of the research has been to identify the extent to which eParticipation is being used and the benefits and drawbacks of these methods. In addition, the research investigated the enablers and barriers to the development of eParticipation in local authorities. Rather than examining eParticipation as a discrete phenomenon, the research examined the broader consultation strategies of local authorities and what role, if any, eParticipation plays within it. A grounded theory approach was adopted which utilised a combination of qualitative methods. Further, an analytical framework was developed based on Dahl’s criteria for ideal democracy to develop a conceptual understanding of how eParticipation is being used in Scottish local authorities. While it was found that Scottish local authorities were using eParticipation tools, their use was rather limited and the vast majority of tools identified and analysed were electronic questionnaires. Respondents reported that they foresaw eParticipation tools being used more extensively in future but in combination with ‘offline’ forms of participation and most did not report positive opinions on dialogic forms of eParticipation such as online discussions. The research findings show that eParticipation does not overcome many of the problems that lead to lack of public participation in policy making although some members of the public may to prefer to participate electronically for reasons of convenience.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can enrich the ways in which citizens participate in civic and political matters. Indeed, many theorists on online participation, or eParticipation, proclaim the potential of digital technologies to empower citizens with convenient ways to participate in democratic processes and to hold leaders to account. However, it is not clear if and how digital technologies, notably social media, can contribute to a more democratic system and engaged public in a country where open expression is limited. This thesis studies Social Networking Sites (SNS) as Information Systems (IS) artefacts, including individuals’ motivation for using them, how their features enable participation - or not - and the impacts of their use in an authoritarian country. Through personal interviews and focus group discussions in Uganda, this thesis finds that the common enablers of online participation in often-studied, mostly Western democratic countries are rarely translated into the offline world in an authoritarian country with one president for the last 30 years. The thesis proposes ways to increase eParticipation in authoritarian contexts, citing the social accountability sector (where the thesis shows evidence of eParticipation working) as a pathway to greater citizen participation and government responsiveness. Findings also contribute to the Information Systems artefact discourse by illuminating the political, social, technological, and information artefacts in SNS when used for eParticipation. Moreover, the thesis shows how, in contexts with a democracy deficit, resource-based theories such as the Civic Voluntarism Model (CVM) fall short in explaining what motivates political participation. It also explains how social networks contain the various constitutive aspects of the IS artefact – social, technical, informational and political - and how these various aspects need to be aligned for eParticipation to work.

Submitted by Taiane Ritta Coelho (taianercoelho@gmail.com) on 2018-02-27T14:57:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE_Versao final_TAIANE RITTA COELHO.pdf: 4459276 bytes, checksum: df6332334f9eb0b48d82cf6eede9d4d5 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Pamela Beltran Tonsa (pamela.tonsa@fgv.br) on 2018-02-28T12:43:45Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE_Versao final_TAIANE RITTA COELHO.pdf: 4459276 bytes, checksum: df6332334f9eb0b48d82cf6eede9d4d5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-02-28T13:46:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE_Versao final_TAIANE RITTA COELHO.pdf: 4459276 bytes, checksum: df6332334f9eb0b48d82cf6eede9d4d5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-01 / Esta tese tem como objetivo explicar como o poder se manifesta no uso de plataformas de participação digital para influenciar a política pública. Ferramentas de TIC implementadas para promover eParticipação apresentam novas oportunidades de diálogo entre o governo e os cidadãos, mas aumentar a participação por meio de plataformas ainda é um desafio. Um problema fundamental, nesse contexto, é que não são feitas considerações sobre as possíveis mudanças no equilíbrio entre as atividades internas no governo e questões de formulação de políticas. Esta tese avança nessa questão, partindo do pressuposto de que o poder é um mediador em tal processo. Maior atenção ao poder pode ajudar na concepção e implementação de processos que são mais representativos, inclusivos e imparciais e pode conduzir a uma maior autonomia dentro de um sistema democrático. Esta pesquisa foi desenvolvida por meio de estudos de caso retrospectivos e comparativos, usando-se a análise de processo das plataformas de participação para a elaboração de três políticas públicas em importantes cidades do país (plataforma de participação para elaboração do PlanMob/SP 2015, de São Paulo; do PMUS 2015, do Rio de Janeiro; do Plano Diretor 2014, de Curitiba). Teve como base diversas fontes de dados, como entrevistas semiestruturadas, documentação e observação não participante, analisadas por meio das técnicas de visual mapping e codificação. Os resultados mostram que os diferentes atores imprimem poder na plataforma por meio da posse de recursos críticos e de autoridade formal, mas também por meio da mobilização de recursos na prática (resourcing). Três fases de resourcing emergiram: resourcing in, resourcing within e resourcing out. Com base nos achados, esta pesquisa apresenta um modelo que explica o processo em que, a partir das práticas de participação, recursos são criados e distribuídos. O uso desses recursos gera mudanças nas práticas de participação e no estabelecimento de mecanismos usados para influenciar a política pública. Esse interplay entre uso dos recursos e geração de mecanismos de influência afeta o curso da participação e leva a resultados diferentes, que incluem legitimidade, influência moderada ou influência na política pública e aprendizado sobre o processo de eParticipação. Tem-se, ainda, que a mobilização de resourcing in nas práticas que antecedem a participação na plataforma, como a formação de alianças e a busca pelo apoio político, têm reflexos que impulsionam a influência na política pública. A união entre os saberes técnicos e coletivos (resourcing within) para realizar a eParticipação é uma fonte de poder que interfere no resultado. Com isso, contribui para a literatura de eParticipação, expandindo o conhecimento sobre os antecedentes, as práticas e os resultados no processo de participação eletrônica. Para a literatura de poder, ampliando as discussões sobre os paradigmas de posse e de prática e avançando na explicação de resourcing como fonte de poder. Enriquece a literatura de Resourcing, explorando a discussão sobre o recurso espaço como aspecto importante das relações de poder e apresentando o conceito de fases de recursos no processo de participação digital. Também é relevante para entender estas práticas e contribuir para que gestores públicos possam desenvolver plataformas que auxilie na governança pública e prover direções para que governo e cidadãos criem mecanismos para melhorar seu relacionamento na formulação de políticas públicas, por meio das TIC. / This study aims to explain how power is manifested in the use of digital participation platforms to influence public policy. ICT tools implemented to promote e-Participation present new opportunities for dialogue between government and citizens. However, increasing participation through platforms remains a challenge. A fundamental problem in this context is the lack of considerations regarding possible changes in the balance between internal activities in the government and policy formulation issues. This thesis addresses this question based on the assumption that power is a mediator in this process. Paying greater attention to power could aid the conception and implementation of processes that are more representative, inclusive and impartial, leading to greater autonomy within a democratic system. The study was conducted through retrospective and comparative case studies, using the process analysis of participation platforms for the drafting of three public policies in important cities of the country (participation platform for the drafting of the PlanMob/SP 2015 in São Paulo, PMUS 2015 in Rio de Janeiro and the PlanoDiretor 2014 in Curitiba). The study was based on a number of data sources, such as semi-structured interviews, documentation and non-participation observation, analyzed using visual mapping and encoding techniques. The results show that the different actors display power on the platform through the possession of critical resources and formal authority, but also through resourcing. Three phases of resourcing emerged: resourcing in, resourcing within, and resourcing out. Based on the findings, I present a model that explains the process, in which, through participation, resources are created and distributed. The use of these resources generates changes in participation practices and in the establishment of mechanisms used to influence public policy. This interplay between the use of resources and the generation of mechanisms of influence affects the course of participation, leading to different results, including legitimacy, moderate influence or influence on public policy and learning with regard to the e-Participation process. It is also argued that the mobilization of resourcing in the practices that precede the participation in the platform, such as alliances and political support, have consequences in the drives the influence in the public policy. The union between technical and collective knowledge (resourcing within) is a source of power that interferes with the result. This study contributes to the literature on e-Participation by expanding knowledge on the antecedents, practices and results in the electronic participation process. It also enriches the literature on Resourcing, providing a further explanation of resourcing as a source of power, exploring the discussion on the resource space as an important aspect of power relationships and expanding the typology of resources in the digital participation process.